Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
State Highlights: A Tuberculosis Outbreak In Rural Alabama; In California, Alzheimer's Caregivers Have Limited Options For Aid
The New York Times: In Rural Alabama, A Longtime Mistrust Of Medicine Fuels A Tuberculosis Outbreak
Marion [Ala.] is in the throes of a tuberculosis outbreak so severe that it has posted an incidence rate about 100 times greater than the state’s and worse than in many developing countries. Residents, local officials and medical experts said the struggle against the outbreak could be traced to generations of limited health care access, endemic poverty and mistrust — problems that are common across the rural South. (Binder, 1/17)
The San Jose Mercury News: Options Are Limited For California Caregivers Shouldering Burden Of Growing Alzheimer's Crisis
[Patt] Martin was among the 15.7 million Americans who contributed an estimated 17.9 billion unpaid hours to caring for people with Alzheimer's in 2014, according to the Alzheimer's Association. The organization says that 41 percent of those caregivers had a household income of less than $50,000, and 17 percent had to give up their jobs. Faced with physical, emotional and economic hardships, 40 percent of caregivers reported bouts of depression, the Alzheimer's Association says.(Wessel, 1/17)
Los Angeles Times: County Turns To Urgent Care Centers, Rather Than Jails Or ERs, To Treat The Mentally Ill In Crisis
County mental health officials and police are increasingly looking to urgent care centers as an alternative to jail beds or overcrowded psychiatric emergency rooms for people in the throes of a mental health crisis. There are now five such centers around the county, the newest of which opened last month, and the county plans to open four more over the next couple of years. (Sewell, 1/19)
The Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Clinic Wants To Bring Its Brand To Fitness, Furniture And More Food Products
The Cleveland Clinic has been a household name in medicine for decades. Now executives want to bring its brand to sporting goods stores, restaurant menus, and maybe even furniture retailers. The Clinic late last year filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register its Go Well brand, the first step in using it to sell a wide range of consumer products. (Ross, 1/15)
The Miami Herald: Patient Needing Lung Transplant Dies After Hospital Declines Transfer
A woman in need of a lung transplant died this week after her family said they tried repeatedly to have her transferred from a West Kendall medical center to Miami-Dade’s taxpayer-owned Jackson Memorial Hospital, the only facility in South Florida capable of transplanting lungs and a designated safety net for uninsured county residents. The woman’s family says Jackson Memorial officials denied her transfer first because they believed she was an undocumented immigrant, then because she was uninsured – and ultimately, after a week of denials because she was too critically ill to move. (Chang, 1/16)
